Rachael Reads

Next week, September 25 — October 2, is Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is a week to celebrate the importance of the First Amendment and to draw attention to the dangers of censorship.

A large majority of the books on the Modern Library’s list of 100 best books, as well as any other list of great books, contains banned books. The ALA has a list of frequently challenged classics. Wikipedia has another list of the most commonly challenged books in the US. If you have some spare time next week, pick up one of these books and enjoy the fact that you can read them. And know that when you read a banned book, you’re being rebellious and sticking it to the man. And that is sexy.

When college has prepared you for a life of analyzing books and producing papers on the subtext, what jobs can you achieve?

Not much, as it turns out.

What do you do with a B.A. in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.

I can’t pay the bills yet,
‘Cause I have no skills yet,
The world is a big scary place.

But somehow I can’t shake,
The feeling I might make,
A difference,
To the human race.

–Avenue Q

I graduated from college two years ago and have found that my particular set of skills prepared me for nothing but trying to find opportunities to use the word “juxtaposition” in conversation. Try as I might, the classified section has yet to produce any advertisements for “professional reader.” What is a girl to do?

Start a blog about reading, of course.

Though I doubt it will make a difference to the human race, it will at least make the payment of my student loans seem worthwhile.